Industries
Healthcare

Healthcare

Our health care lawyers are passionate about the industry and have decades of experience advising for-profit and non-profit providers, insurers, biotechnology companies and other clients facing complex legal, regulatory and business issues. Well known for our industry knowledge, experience, quality, integrity and advocacy, our team is tightly knit, deeply experienced, and capable of deploying the right resources to assist you in a highly efficient and cost-effective manner.

The health care practice at Shipman has been ranked in Band 1 by Chambers USA America’s Leading Lawyers for Business 2022, the nation’s preeminent guide to law firms and individual lawyers.

For more than 75 years, we have provided informed, proactive representation to hospitals, academic medical centers, hospital systems, integrated health networks, community-based providers, behavioral health agencies, substance-use disorder providers, federally qualified health centers, home health agencies, skilled nursing facilities, life-science companies, retail pharmacies and insurers.

Corporate compliance is the cornerstone of our health law practice. With our vast experience, we work with clients to develop and implement risk-management programs and guidance that help create an effective compliance culture. From conducting Stark Law and Anti-Kickback Statute audits and analyses, to helping align compliance and business strategies, we regularly advise on the full range of federal and state regulatory matters.

Global health matters

Community Living Arrangements Secures $4.2 Million in Funding from Rate Appeal

Represented a group of Community Living Arrangements (CLAs) in Connecticut in administrative appeals challenging FY2026 room and board rates set by the Department of Social Services (DSS). CLAs are residential settings providing support and services to individuals with severe disabilities, and their room and board rates had been effectively frozen at 2015 cost-year levels despite statutory requirements for annual rate-setting under Conn. Gen. Stat. § 17b-244.

Following collaborative engagement with DSS rate-setting and legal staff, and a rehearing focused on FY2025 rates, DSS determined in November 2025 that the long-standing statutory freeze should no longer apply. In January 2026, DSS announced that FY2026 room and board rates for all CLAs statewide would be rebased to the most recent cost year, with the increased rates applying retroactively to July 1, 2025. The resolution is expected to deliver an additional $4.2 million in funding for FY2026 for the provider community, advancing the sustainability of services for individuals with severe disabilities and their families across Connecticut.

Higher education

Faculty Collective Bargaining Agreement for State University Health Center

State University Health Center

Negotiated collective bargaining agreement for faculty members at state university health center.

Counsel Client in Launch of National Training Program

Advise client in navigating the launch of a national medical assistant training program, including the opening of a number of private occupational schools in Connecticut and Colorado.

Land use approvals and litigation

Acquisition and Land Use Approvals for Federally Qualified Health Center

Represented Federally Qualified Health Center in the acquisition and development of real property in downtown Winsted, Connecticut, enabling the client to expand and meet the growing need of the medically-underserved living in the area so that they may have access to quality, affordable and comprehensive primary and preventive health services. The Center will serve a racially and economically diverse population, many of whom have limited employment, transportation, housing and financial resources by adding additional exam rooms, providers, support staff, and equipment in a convenient location, dramatically reducing the number of adults who have no care, or have delayed or not sought care. Over the course of eighteen months, our team handled the negotiation of the purchase transaction, related land use approvals including the successful appeal of a denial by the local planning and zoning commission, as well as related historic, regulatory and environmental matters, allowing for closing of the transaction in early 2018.

Litigation

Represent Senior Living Facility in Contract Disputes

Represent a senior living facility in connection with contract disputes with several of its business partners. We were able to successfully negotiate resolutions with the majority of the adverse parties before the commencement of litigation, and quickly resolved the only lawsuit filed, saving our client the time, expense and human resources associated with protracted litigation.

General

Proposed Sale of Rhode Island Healthcare System

Our team of healthcare regulatory, corporate and litigation lawyers represented the Rhode Island Office of the Attorney General (RIAG) with respect to an application under “The Hospital Conversions Act” seeking approval for Prospect Medical Holdings to sell a health care system that includes two community hospitals: Roger Williams Medical Center and Our Lady of Fatima Hospital to the Centurion Foundation, a private non-profit foundation. As outside regulatory counsel, Shipman provided the RIAG with advice related to the proposed material transaction.

Recent Large Bankruptcy Cases

Represented trade creditors and lessors in some of the largest bankruptcy cases in the last few years, including In re Rite Aid Corp. (Bankr. D.N.J. filed 2023); Endo International plc (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. filed 2022); Bed Bath & Beyond, Inc. (Bankr. D.N.J. filed 2023); and In re Mallinckrodt plc (Banrk. D. Del. filed 2020).

Shipman Advised Rhode Island Attorney General On Proposed Healthcare Systems Merger

A Shipman team of attorneys, led by Joan Feldman, and including Vincenzo Carannante, Mark Ostrowski, Patrick Fahey, Christopher Cahill, Damian Privitera and Stephanie Gomes-Ganhão were engaged by Rhode Island Office of the Attorney General (“RIAG”) over a twelve-month period to advise the Office in connection with the proposed merger of the State’s two largest healthcare systems and a collaboration with Brown University. Our engagement included advising the RIAG regarding the proposed merger and its potential impact on the State of Rhode Island residents and health care employees. We provided an extensive review and evaluation of the parties’ submissions, and took multiple statements under oath of the transacting parties and their consultants.